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The government may announce a new lockdown this weekend.
Empty streets, closed stores, children and parents in home schooling or office – and economic, social and psychological consequences that will continue to occupy Austria long after the Corona crisis: Eight months ago the government sent the country into the first lockdown. This was supported by a broad range of opposition and social groups. At that time everything was new, the understanding for ignorance and drastic measures was there. Today, eight months later, the ÖVP and the Greens are once again on the verge of shutting down Austria.
Full lockdown starting Monday?
Austrian leading newspaper “KRONE” reports in its Friday edition that a new lockdown will be announced and will come into effect next week. The possible key points: Retailers will lock up, schools will switch back to distance learning. Hairdressers and other service providers could also be affected by lockdowns, and the curfews could be tightened.
The recommendation on home office could become mandatory wherever possible. In order to protect the risk group, bans on visits to old people’s and nursing homes or hospitals are likely, and some federal states are already implementing them.
Basis is incorrect data
The decision for the second lockdown was made after Thursday evening in a scheduled meeting. They wanted to wait and see how the “lockdown light” would affect the figures. They increased: On Thursday there were 9262 new cases and 44 deaths.
Lockdown “only tool we know”
However, the chaos in the late registrations makes it difficult to draw conclusions about effectiveness: “Especially now, when we have to assess whether further measures are necessary, it is impossible to say whether the existing ones are effective,” says Peter Klimek. The physicist is a member of the Covid prognosis team. One thing is certain: “We can rule out the possibility of a drastic reduction in the number of cases. The goal must be to reduce them – the only tool we know is the lockdown.
The problem of retrospective reports is not new, but so far the mathematicians have been able to price this into the figures. As the number of cases increases, the reporting channels become more unreliable, with data ending up up to a week late in the system. According to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, work is underway to remedy the problem.
— hector pascua, with reports from krone.at. Picture: pixabay.com
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